Tape chute for mail treating



Feb. 11, 1947. s, MOORE T 2,415,562

TAPE 'CHUTE FOR MAIL TREATING MACHINES Filed May 5, 1943 v H INVENTORS fitflfg .5. Maori BY Jase 1k I 56/155 42 M M WJ TTOIFNHS Patented Feb. 11, 1947 TAPE CHUTE FOR MAIL TREATING MACHINES George S. Moore, Woodhaven, and Joseph T. Scheb, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignors to Commercial Controls Corporation, a corporation of Delaware I Application May 5, 1943, Serial No. 485,696

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a tape handling device for a mail treating machine or the like.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a tape handling device for a mail treating machine which is sturdy in construction and dependable in operation. Another object is to provide a device of the above nature capable of .efiiciently feeding gummed paper tape or the like into position for the printing of postage thereon. Another object is to provide a device of the above character capable of continuous cyclic operation without interruption by reason of jamming of the tape. Another object is to provide a device of the above nature capable of dependably delivering successive lengths of tape into proper printing register relative to a postage printing mechanism or the like. Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts as will be exemplifled in the structure to be hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which Will be indicated in the following claim.

In the drawing, wherein we have shown one form of our invention,

Figure l is a fragmentary partly schematic side elevation of our tape printing device in operative position relative to a printing mechanlsm, a portion of the device being broken away and shown in section; and,

Fi ure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the tape printing device.

- Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the views of the drawing.

Modern mail treating machines such as, for example, that shown in the copending application of Commodore D. Ryan and Edward P. Drake, Serial No. 369,570, filed December 11, 1940, are operable for the printing of postage on em velopes, cards and the like, or on gummed tape. Such a machine may, accordingly, be so set that the printing mechanism thereofis operable to print only on envelopes or cards and, under such setting, inoperative to print on tape, the tape handling mechanism either being disabled or moved out of operative position. Or, the machine may be set so that the printing device prints only on gummed tape, operation of the machine under this setting being such as to render it incapable of handling envelopes or cards. Thus, the machine is characterized by t-apehandling mechanism manuallyoperable into and out ofioperative p sition.

' Tape handling devices of this character, at least in most modern mail treating machines, usually include mechanisms which impart various movements of the tape, i. e. the leading end thereof, in order that the tape be set to proper printing register relative to the printing mechanism, sothat the impression on the tape be uniformly spaced from the leading edge thereof, and this accordingly necessitates movement of this leadin edge during one portion or another of the printing cycle. After the printing cycle is completed, the tape is usually cut by a cutting device which may be associated with the tape handling device and may have its gummed side moistened or left dry, as desired. This movement of the tape during the printing cycle may result in the tapes jamming within the tape chute of the tape handling device, which not only usually tears or irreparably wrinkles the printed end of the tape, but also disables the tape handling device to such an extent that it is often necessary for a, trained service man to relieve the tape jam and repair any damages resulting therefrom. It is our belief that one of the causes underlying these tape jams is the dry mucilage on one side of the tape, i. e. the bottom side, as it passes through the tape handling device which produces a. transverse arch in the tape as it leaves the roll, thus preventing the tape from passing through the tape handling device in flat form. Accordingly, if there is an obstruction in the way of the high point of the arch at the leading edge of the tape, this edge of the tape will catch and as following portions are fed they cannot pass through the machine if the leading edge is stopped, and the tape accordingly piles up in a mass within the tape chute. It is accordingly another object of this invention to provide a tape handling device which obviates these difficulties in a thoroughly practical and dependable manner.

Referring now to Figure 1, the tape handling device is generally indicated at l0, and is shown in operative position in relation to a printing device t2, illustratively the printing drum of a postage meter such as, for example, the meter shown in the above-mentioned application. As described in that application, the tape handling device is pivo-table about the axis of a shaft l3 by manually operable mechanism not here shown, into and out of the operative position illustrated. When in operative position, the tape handling device I!) presents gummed tape M in printing position between a platen l5 mounted on shaft 13 and printing drum l2, so as to receive printing impressions from type it mounted on the printing drum. Drum l2 and platen l5 rotate counterclockwise and clockwise, respectively, and in timed relation, so that surface ll of the platen and type IS on the drum engage opposite sides "of tape M and feed the tape through the tape feeding device until the type and platen disengage one another. of the printing cycle, the printed end Ma of the tape is automatically cut off by a cutting device generally indicated at it, so that this end of the tape may be removed and used as desired. A moistening device, generally indicated at l9, may be set as desired, either to moisten the out 01f tape end Ma or not, depending on what use is to be made of the tape. The: cut off device l8 and moistening device 19 are described in detail in the above-noted application.

The tape handling device In comprises a pair of side walls 29 and 2| (Figure 2) which are held in proper spaced relation by an arcuate plate 22 .which is fastened to peripheral portions of the sideplates by screws 23 and 24 (see Figure 1).

Screws 23 (Figure 2) extend through side plates .20 and 2! and are threaded into tabs 220. formed on and extending from the forward edge of plate 22, this plate thus forming the bottom wall of a tape chute generally indicated at 25.

The top wall of tape chute 25 is formed by an arcuate plate 26 provided with depending flanges ,21 (Figure 1) at its opposite longitudinal edges which respectively overlie side Walls 20 and 2| (Figure 1) at the left-hand end and are held in place by screws 23 at about the mid portion. This top plate 26 is suitably spaced from bottom plate 22 and also from the upper edges of plates 20 and 2!, so as to define with the bottom plate and side wall edges tape chute 25, which is of substantially uniform width throughout its extent.

The left-hand end of top plate 26, as shown in Figure 2, is cut away, i. e. is provided with a slot 28, and the right-hand end of this slot communicates with a wider opening 29 formed in that portion of the top plate which lies between the top of platen l5 and the bottom of printing drum l2 (Figure 1). This opening 29 in the top plate accordingly provides a space for the entry into the tape chute of type IS on the printing drum, thus to enable the type to print on the tape lying within the chute. As the tape is printed, it is 'fed to the right through the chute, and

out of the exit end thereof, the top plate 26 at Underlying the extreme right-hand or exit end of plate 26 is a cut off plate 3! which is spaced from the top plate and accordingly forms therewith the exit end of chute 25, this cut off plate also being provided to cooperate with the cutting off device l8.

As noted'hereinabove, it is often customary in tape'handling devices of this character to move thetape into printing register during some portion of the printing cycle. In the tape handling device shown, the free end of the tape subsequent to the cutting off operation lies at I46 (Figure 1) and before another printing operation takes "place, this end of the tape is retracted sufiicient- The left-hand end of slot 30 At the end 1y, i. e. moved to the left, so that the impression is made relatively near to end Mb of the tape, thus avoiding wastage of the tape. To efi'ect this retraction, a lever 32 is provided, this lever being pivoted on a shaft 33 and having at its upper end a spring-biased shoe 34 adapted to engage tape M. Lever 32 also carries a cam roller 35 which coacts with a cam 36 suitably connected to shaft I3 so that as the shaft and cam rotate roller 35 follows the cam contour and thus pivots lever 32 counterclockwise against the bias of a spring (not shown) so that shoe 34 on top of the lever retracts the free end Mb of the tape into proper position within the tape chute. The travel of shoe 34 is such that free end Mb of the tape is retracted to a point adjacent the right-hand end of opening 29, i. e. the left-hand end of slot 30 (as viewed in Figure 2) and Mb of the tape thus lying at the entrance to slot 30 when type l6 presses the tape against surface I! of the platen l-5.

As noted above, gummed tape, by reason of the shrinkage of the dry mucilage, has a tendency to curl in a direction away from the gummed side which, in this instance, would be the down side of the tape. This buckling tendency of the tapefi. e. its tendency to arch transversely often results in the top of the arch lying above the bottom side of the upper tape chute wall 26, so that if this wall were solid at the right-hand end, as viewed in Figure 2, rather than being provided with slot 30, the buckled or arched end of the tape would catch against the tape chute wall so that the following portions thereof as fed by the printing drum and platen would crumple, behind the leading edge of the tape, thus .held stationary, and create a jam within the tape chute, accordingly destroying the imprint and perhaps damaging the tape mechanism. However, through the provision of slot 36, the arched free end or leading end of the tape is free to pass into the slot, and as the slot is tapered the arched end is gradually flattened so that when the free end of the tapeemerges from the exit end of the chute between the cutter on cutting device I8 and cutting plate 3|, the tape end is flat, or substantially so, and thus readily able to pass between the coacting cutting devices without becoming jammed therebetween.

Accordingly it will appear that we have provided a tape handling device that attains the several objects hereinabove set forth in a thoroughly practical and eificient manner.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention, and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shownin the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

In a tape handling device for a mail treating machine, in combination, a supporting structure comprising spaced side walls, means bridging said side walls and forming an arcuate tape chute having entrance and exit ends, means forming an opening transversely through said chute adjacent but spaced from said exit end, and a platen rotatably mounted between said side walls and having an operative surface adapted upon rotation of the platen to enter said chute adjacent said opening to feed tape through said opening and out of said exit end, the top surface of said chut havingv a slot formed therein between said entrance and said opening; the top 6 wall of said chute also having a tapered slot formed therein extending from said opening to REFERENCES CITED said exit end, the Width of saidsecond-mentionec1 The following references are of record in the slot at 'said exit end being less than the Width file of this patent: thereof at any other portion, said second-men- 5 tioned slot being unobstructed at its exit end. FOREIGN PATENTS GEORGE S. MOORE. Number Country Date JOSEPH T. SCHEB. 108,468 Australian Sept. 5, 1931 

